From Pine View Farm

Author's archive

Immunity Impunity 0

At El Reg, Thomas Claburn looks at AI and posits that

. . . the real problem isn’t the models themselves, but the companies who carelessly unleash them on the world and don’t take any responsibility for what their products do.

Methinks he has a point. Follow the link for his reasoning.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

To thine own self be polite.

Musical NotesGuns and stupid, guns and stupid,
They go together like love and Cupid.
Let me tell you, brother,
You won’t find one without the other.

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Sloptocracy 0

Thom talks with Heidi Siegmund Cuda about how the Trump maladministration is using AI slop to pollute the polity.

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The Me Veneration 0

Tour guide to tourists:  Here we are at the President's triumphal arch commemorating his victory at the histric battle of the Billionaires at Wrestlemania 23.

Click for the original image.

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American Stasi 0

Another woman’s story.

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“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0

Jim Hightower hears some rhymes with history in this new gilded age. Here’s a couple:

For example, John C. Calhoun, a venerated “statesman” of the mid-1800s, led a national crusade to convert all workers to slave laborers owned by moneyed masters. In the Civil War, a family of profiteering bankers got one of their sons exempted from duty in the Union Army by asserting, “There are plenty of lives less valuable” than his. Then, in the 1920s, a prominent, anti-woke academic proclaimed that races are inherently unequal, so “democracy is an unrealizable absurdity.”

Follow the link for the context of his remarks.

_________________

*Mark Twain.

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QOTD 0

Wilkie Collins:

In our modern system of civilization, celebrity (no matter of what kind) is the lever that will move anything.

Aside:

He wrote that over a century and a half ago. Wonder what he would think about today . . . .

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A Tune for the Times 0

Warning: Mild language.

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Vaccine Nation 0

It appears that RFK Jr. is succeeding at making measles great again.

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Where’s the Beef? 0

Ask the Florida men.

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The Patriot Gamer 0

Soldiers removing coffins of dead soldiers from air transport at Dover AFB.  Donald Trump stand by a golf cart saluting while thinking,

Via Job’s Anger.

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This New Gilded Age 0

From the Youtube page:

Thom breaks down how modern billionaires and oligarchs are threatening democratic institutions across the globe—from recent political shifts in Germany to corporate influence in American elections.

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“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0

More neighborly politeness.

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The Normalizers 0

In the midst of a longer article about Donald Trump’s trade war of choice (the man does like to start conflicts, does he not?), Rex Huppke offers a word of advice:

Treating Trump like he’s normal isn’t being objective. It’s irresponsible.

Follow the link for his reasoning.

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QOTD 0

Larry Flynt:

You know, everybody believes in free speech until you start questioning them about it.

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A Tune for the Times 0

Via Delaware Liberal.

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Nor Any Drop To Drink . . . . 0

The general welfare.”

This court claims it never heard of no “general welfare.”

A federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee the right to clean drinking water in a Sept. 4 decision rejecting Jackson, Mississippi, residents’ lawsuit over the city’s lead-contaminated water system.

Read more »

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Thought Police 0

At the Psychology Today website, Matthew Clemente and David Goodman explain why book banning, however pure the book banners’ (think their) motives, is a bad idea. They make four main points:

  • In recent years, the calls for censorship and banning books has increased.
  • Critiques of the dangerous or immoral nature of literature have been around for thousands of years.
  • Yet one of literature’s great strengths is to depict the complexity of the human condition.
  • Showing truth through fiction and revealing virtue by depicting vice, literature helps us to mature ethically.

In these censorious times, methinks their article a worthwhile read.

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“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0

At my local rag, John W. Roth hears several rhymes from ancient times. Here’s just one; follow the link for more rhyme time.

Nero attempted to remake Rome in his own image, hoping to rename it “Neropolis.” Like other living emperors, he put his face on coins and his name on buildings.

______________________

*Mark Twain.

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Gaming the Numbers 0

David explains how the Trump maladministration is living in fantasy world ignoring economic reality. A quote:

This is what happens when loyalty becomes the principle qualification . . . .

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